North Carolina governor signs bill on illegal bus passing

RALEIGH, N.C. — On Monday, Gov. Bev Perdue signed into law a bill that targets motorists who pass stopped school buses. The Nicolas Adkins Sc...

Staff Writer・Editorial

Read Staff's Posts

June 24, 2009

1 min to read

RALEIGH, N.C. — On Monday, Gov. Bev Perdue signed into law a bill that targets motorists who pass stopped school buses.

The Nicolas Adkins School Bus Safety Act, named after a teen who was killed earlier this year as he was boarding his school bus, allows school districts to install cameras or video recording systems on school buses to catch motorists who pass while the buses are loading or unloading students.

The footage from those devices can be used as evidence in prosecuting violators.

Under the law, any motorist who passes a stopped school bus and strikes a person will be guilty of a Class I felony. If striking the person results in a fatality, the motorist will be guilty of a Class H felony.

News 14 reported that the law changes the second offense from a Class I to a Class H felony, signifying that judges are “more likely to give jail time.”

The law will take effect on Dec. 1 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.

Topics:stop-arm running/illegal passing Safety

More Safety

Cover of a Pro-Vision whitepaper titled “Doing More With Less: A Transportation Director’s Guide to Managing Safety Budget Uncertainty,” featuring school buses, a school transportation scene, and safety technology imagery.

Doing More With Less: How Transportation Directors Can Prioritize Safety Amid Budget Uncertainty

With diesel prices soaring and nearly one-third of transportation directors expecting budget cuts, maintaining student safety has never been more challenging. Download this guide to learn how leading districts are prioritizing risk, funding critical safety technology, and building stronger budget cases with data.